No Notion of Halves
by could-have-beens
Summary: In his defense, befriending Starfire had never been a part of his plans — but Red X just can't seem to stay away, can he?
1. Chapter 1

**No Notion of Halves**

Jason Todd makes an unlikely friend. Unlikely because he's supposed to be an average civilian, and the friend in question happens to be a Titan who wouldn't hesitate to turn him in if she ever found out who he was. In his defense, befriending Starfire had never been a part of his plans — but he just can't seem to stay away, can he?

* * *

_"I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature. My attachments are always excessively strong."_

_― Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey_

* * *

If anyone had asked him why he returned to Jump — not that anyone knew enough about him to ask, obviously — he wouldn't have known what to say. Frankly, he wasn't sure either. Maybe it was the routine he had built in the years since he first came here. Maybe it was because the city was so unlike Gotham in the best way, with its California sunlight and ocean breeze. Or maybe it was just because he was a lot more sentimental than he thought.

Whatever it was, he came back. He returned with the resolve to keep his head down and to leave the life of costumed vigilantes firmly in the past where it belonged. To do something peaceful and productive and _normal_ with himself. Something that wouldn't get him killed in the process.

Stability. That was what he needed. What he had always needed even as a street rat with a no-good, third-rate thug for a father and a depressed junkie for a mother. What he thought he had when he wore garish tights and jumped over rooftops and believed himself invincible.

So he hung up the cape and the mask and the suit. He used his considerable skills to erase everything about Red X that could be traced back to him.

Then he got a job. It wasn't exactly glamorous, but he didn't have much cause to complain. The erratic opening hours suited him well enough, and the pay was good — better, even, than what a secondhand bookstore seller should probably earn. The owner didn't seem to care what he did on and off duty, and was content to leave him alone so long as he kept the record books in order.

Which was fine by him. It meant he had enough to pay rent, eat food that wasn't days-old pizza, and enroll in a community college. He ended up getting roommates, who were tolerable enough despite all their chattiness and the dirty laundry they kept lying around.

But he had certainly survived worse. He could deal with it. He could learn to live with it.

Because for the first time in his life, things weren't spiraling out of his control. At last, he had settled into a simple, uncomplicated existence of normalcy. And he was fucking happy about it, thank you very much.

So when Starfire came in his store one afternoon, Jason Todd felt his blood run cold. _This is it_, he thought. _The end of the line_.

He hadn't recognized her right away, but he spotted her glaring red hair before anything else, the dying winter wind whipping long strands of it wildly around her head like a signal flag. _Hey_, was his first thought, unable to not notice her bright eyes and the set of her mouth as she stepped inside. _Familiar_, was the next, a nagging thought at the back of his head as he watched his newest customer wander further into the store.

Jason dismissed it. It was probably his mind playing tricks, because he had a pretty girl in his shop and he couldn't _not_ check her out. The kind of pretty that meant she was way, way out of his league, but a guy could dream, couldn't he?

But the nagging feeling stayed even as he entertained the other patrons. More than once, Jason found his gaze drifting to her direction, watching as she ambled from bookshelf to bookshelf. She caught him at it too, giving him a shy smile before turning back to a pile of romance books he kept near the very back of the store.

He was a bit disappointed when the girl moved to leave. Not because she had loitered in the store for a good half hour without buying anything — which wasn't exactly unusual — but because Jason had been hoping for an excuse to chat her up without seeming like a creep. Still, he made sure to flash his most charming smile when she passed, calling out the usual customer service script as she headed for the exit.

"Thanks for coming. Have a nice day."

Jason hadn't expected her to return the rote goodbye with a large grin and a cheery wave.

"I wish you the nice day as well!" she said, leaving the tinkling bell above the doorway ringing in her wake.

And then it hit him, the nagging feeling growing into full blown panic as recognition slid into place. It felt as though his whole world had come to an abrupt standstill.

The hair. The eyes. The pretty face. The accent.

_Shit._

* * *

Jason closed the store early that day. As he finished up the week's inventory, he was vaguely aware that he was doing an awful job at it. His boss would probably be pissed at him if she knew.

Not that it mattered now. The list of sales was the last thing on his mind. Because all those months of putting his life back on track, after years of believing he was no more than a lost cause? Gone. Down the drain. All because one nondescript January afternoon, a Titan — a fucking _Titan _— came in his store and saw him without his mask.

_Shit shit shit. . . ._

Was it only happenstance? Had Starfire, dressed like a civilian and disguised as a human, simply ended up in his store by chance?

Or was it more than that? A reconnaissance mission, maybe? Some intelligence-gathering job?

_And if it is? What now?_

Jason couldn't shake the feeling that she knew. That she had recognized him just as he had recognized her. That somehow, the Titans had figured out who he was, where he worked, what he did — and they were going to haul him away from the life he had built, back to all the madness and crazy shit he had worked so hard to leave behind.

A dozen or so contingency plans swirled in his head. Where he could go, how he could get there, what he could do. . . . Maybe he sounded a bit paranoid, jumping to conclusions and all, but Jason liked to think he had good reason to be, given — well, his whole existence, basically. This wouldn't be the first time he packed his bags and rebuilt his life from scratch. It wouldn't be easy, especially now when he had just gotten his shit together, but he would do it if he had to. If his situation really was that dire, if his identity was compromised. . . .

Either the universe had it out for him or the whole encounter was some stupid coincidence that was never going to happen again. At any rate, he could always cut his losses and move to Canada.

* * *

The universe had it out for him.

Starfire came back the next day, while he was in the middle of doing his homework behind the counter. She looked human — arched eyebrows, white sclera, less orange skin — but it was hard to unsee who she really was now that Jason had seen through her disguise. Even if she was all smiles as she entered the store, so disarming that the few customers inside smiled back when she passed.

Like last time, Starfire wandered around the store, seemingly aimless. Jason kept her in his line of sight, taking care to be inconspicuous about it. In his mind, he had already plotted how he was going to get out, in case this was an ambush and the other Kiddy Leaguers decided to burst through the roof to drag him to jail. Or they would try to, at least.

But the more he stared at her, the less certain he was that the Titans were going to show up. There was just something about Starfire — how she would light up when she found a good book, the way her forehead would crinkle at some of the titles, the careful way she scanned through the aisles.

Jason forced himself to relax. _This is fine_, he told himself, trying to turn his attention back to the stack of work ahead of him. _Everything's fine. _So what if there was a literal alien superhero in his store? It didn't have to mean anything. He could just pretend to not know about the alien superhero part, forget that the pretty girl he had been eyeing hadn't tried to arrest him the last time they saw each other.

He could do this. His life was normal now, and not noticing superheroes in disguises was a normal people thing to do. There were better things to do than getting worked up over the past.

Like his homework, for one thing. Unnerved as he was by Starfire's arrival, he still had papers to finish, and they were kicking his ass, general education class or not. Still, it was probably a less painful experience than getting paranoid over a bunch of do-good, boy scout vigilantes.

_Back to work, Todd._

By the time his coffee was nothing but cold dregs, Jason had only made it through half a chapter. Not a stunning amount of progress. He had just talked himself into seriously focusing when he remembered the elephant in the room. Though it wasn't remembering so much as Starfire suddenly appearing into view, leaning over the counter so that they were nearly face to face. She was hard to miss, what with that hair and those eyes so up close.

Jason was too well trained to jump in surprise, but he blinked, taking a second to find his bearings. "Can I help you?" he said, as pleasantly as he could manage.

"Yes you may!" she said brightly. "I am in need of recommendations."

Well. This was unexpected.

"Like . . . book recommendations?"

She tilted her head, eyebrows slightly drawn. "I was not aware your store sells anything else."

"Uh, no," he said. "Just books. So — er — what do you normally read?"

"Oh, it is not for me. It is for my friend's birthday. I am uncertain what to get her."

God, this was just too surreal. "What does she like?"

"I afraid I am unfamiliar with the books she reads, but I believe they are the . . . heavy things?"

"Heavy . . . things?"

She nodded. "Our friends have teased her for it before, but I have not read any of them to say so myself."

"Not your taste?"

She frowned. "Please, what do books have to do with the sensation of flavor?"

"Um . . . nothing at all. It's just another way or saying preference or . . . uh, liking. Partiality."

"Ah, I see," she said, cheeks a bit warm. He noticed, because her face was angled downwards, in a way that made the dust hanging in the air between them scatter sunlight across her cheekbones.

Not that he really should be noticing these things. At all.

He cleared his throat. "So, uh, your friend. What else does she like?"

"Dickens, Brontë, Steinbeck, Hugo . . ." she listed, ticking each name off on her fingers, "but I confess I do not recognize their names."

"They're old school stuff. Classics." If she had been anyone else, Jason would have assumed this friend of hers was either an English major without a life or a pretentious asshole who never read a book after high school. "Well, if she's a fan, you could never go wrong with the special editions. Bit pricey though."

"That is fine," she said, and her expression cleared. "Do you know what I can get her?"

"I have a few ideas."

Jason had a pretty good guess who the friend was. Obvious, really. He doubted Starfire and the rest of the Brady Bunch left their Tower long enough to actually meet other people, much less befriend them. It wasn't exactly a long list, and only one of them seemed like the sort to actually care about literature.

And if he was right about that, then he had feeling he knew what she would like. He got one of the out-of-print edition books he kept in the back, the hardcover one with the drawings that most people would probably turn their noses up at. But then, most people preferred newer books that didn't have darkened pages or a musty scent.

"Wasn't sure which Brontë sister your friend likes," Jason said as he returned to the counter, "but _Jane_ _Eyre_ is a safe bet."

Starfire, who had been peering at his mess of papers and notes, looked up at his approach, head tilted as she eyed the 1943 edition book he handed her. She flipped through it, lingering on the illustrations.

"It looks lovely," she said, sounding pleased. "I shall take it."

"Want me to wrap it up?"

"If it is not too much trouble."

"Not at all. Just give me five minutes."

Jason was tempted to use that hideous neon pink paper he inexplicably had in stock, but eventually went with a nice dark blue. No use in ruining someone's birthday with something so petty as ugly gift wrap. Consider it his good deed for the week or something.

He expected Starfire to wander around the store some more as he wrapped the book, but she stayed at the counter, frowning at his homework.

"The answer is D," she said suddenly.

"What?"

"On item number 9," she clarified.

Jason was just about to wrap the present with a golden ribbon, but he paused to lean over and look at his assignment. Along the margins were crossed out equations, eraser shavings, and bad doodles. It was hard to tell where he left off, but he didn't need to see the item in question to know he had gotten it wrong. Hell, he was pretty sure he was getting most of the assignment wrong — but in his defense, what the fuck was he doing in Calculus anyway?

"I apologize," Starfire went on. "I had not meant to pry, but you had looked troubled earlier while you were working on these. I could not help but be curious."

"Yeah, well," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's been giving me some trouble." _Not that it's the only one._ "How did you know? About number 9, I mean."

She launched into an explanation the left his mind reeling. By the end of it, he could do no more than blink at her, numbers and formulas dancing behind his eyes.

"Cutie, I have no idea what you just said," he told her when she finished.

"Shall I repeat it?"

"Thanks but no. I appreciate the effort, but my ears will probably start bleeding. I'll just take your word for it." He circled D on his paper with a furnish, then tucked the pen behind his ear. "There. Thanks."

"This paper . . . what is it for?" she asked, eyes still raking over his assignment. "I take that it is not for recreation?"

Jason snorted as he went back to wrapping the book. "God, no," he said. "It's just homework. I probably shouldn't be doing it here, but I'm kind of behind and my boss doesn't really care so. . . ."

"Homework," she echoed. "You are in school?"

He made a face. "It's ridiculous, I know. To be twenty-three and just starting."

"Is that unusual? To start at twenty-three?"

"Well . . . kind of? I mean, there are people who just stop. Take a year off or two after graduating high school. Most people go to college immediately though. Don't know what the ratio is but pretty sure it doesn't work in my favor."

"I do not think it ridiculous at all. Surely it is better to do something late than to never begin?"

"Guess so," he said, shrugging. "Everyone's got a story."

Starfire peered rather intently at him, long enough that he felt the urge to squirm under her gaze. "Indeed."

A twinge of panic ran through him, and he looked away. "The book is done, by the way," he said, a little tersely. "Can I get you anything else?"

"There is no need," she said. "I thank you very much for your help."

"No problem. Hope your friend likes the book."

Jason rang it up and told her the total. Her fingers fumbled over the coins for a moment, muttering, "Quarters, dimes, nickels, pennies," under her breath. He pretended not to notice as he handed her her change.

The transaction complete, he knew he could have left it at that. Thanked her for coming, bid her goodbye, then pretend their entire encounter never happened. That this whole thing was just a tiny stain in his otherwise plain, average — and _normal_, goddammit, he was supposed to be _normal_ now — existence.

But curiosity got the better of him. Before he could stop himself, he inclined his head toward his still unfinished homework and said, "You're pretty good at that. Calculus."

Starfire hummed slightly as she pocketed her change. "It is easy to understand once you know the basics."

"Must be nice to be able to figure out mathematical formulas in your head."

"Is there not the saying 'math is a universal language'?"

He chuckled. "Sure. Doesn't mean I speak it fluently though. We can't all be super geniuses."

"Truly, it does not need genius. Only practice," she said, smiling. "Perhaps you need to partake in more of it. That is the purpose of the homework, is it not?"

"Nah. Pretty sure it's for torture. Want to break a guy's spirit? Give him math." He got one of the nicer paper bags, put her book and the receipt inside, and handed it over. "I'd give my first born to get out of it, honestly."

She pulled a face, but her eyes were shining. "That is not allowed. It would be most unethical."

"Kidding," he said. "I already gave it up for that nice motorcycle out front."

Starfire laughed, and for some reason it felt like a victory. "I suppose it does seem nice," she said, glancing at his motorcycle through the front window.

"Yeah. Totally worth it."

"Then I wish you luck with the rest of your homework . . ." she trailed off, looking at him in askance.

The name slipped out of him before he could think it through. "It's Jason."

"Jason," she repeated, as if to test it out. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Jason."

"And you?" He didn't know what made him say that aloud either, but he supposed it was only fair. A name for a name.

He could've sworn she faltered for a second, pausing slightly before she answered, "You may call me Kori. Kori Anders."

"Kori, huh?" He wasn't sure what he expected her to say, but the alias had a nice ring to it. "Nice. I mean, it's a pretty name. Not to sound creepy or anything."

She smiled again, wide and genuine. "You are not. I am glad you think it is pretty. I do not — most people do not use it anymore."

"Childhood nickname?"

"Something of the sort."

"Well, the pleasure's all mine, Kori."

Jason was surprised to find that he meant it, and even more surprised to realize that he had actually enjoyed their small talk. He allowed himself a small smile as she left, her pretty, large green eyes turning back towards the entrance.

The door tinkled after her. He glanced around at the now-empty store, then plopped down on his seat, eyeing that damned Calculus assignment. So the warrior princess from another planet — _Kori_, apparently — was a math whiz. Go figure.

The whole thing was . . . weird. No weirder than the sum of his life for sure, but certainly weirder than it had been these past few months. It was the sort of thing that would make for a funny anecdote, told over drinks while playing catch-up with old pals. Like the setup for some shitty joke. _An alien superhero and a zombie walk into a bar. . . ._

Except the bar was a bookstore, the zombie had a fake identity, and the alien superhero wasn't meant to be an alien superhero that day, or even the day before that. Just a pretty girl with a pretty name.

So, technically, not a joke at all.

But at least that was the end of that. He had been worried for nothing, and there was no need to move to Canada after all. Awesome. Sure, seeing Starfire again because of mere coincidence — and then, later, for a birthday present, of all things — was a bit strange, but whatever.

It wasn't like Jason was going to be seeing her again, anyway.

* * *

Should I _really _be working on a new story, when I've got a million others waiting to be finished? Probably not, but I couldn't resist. The central premise – Jason trying to live a normal civilian life, away from superheroics – is something I haven't seen a lot of, both in Teen Titans and Batman fics, and I wanted to try my hand at it. Originally, I wanted to have the whole story published on Jason's birthday, but the need for validation outweighed my patience. So validate me, y'all. Review – I'd love to know what you guys think!


	2. Chapter 2

I'm back! Sorry for the unexpected hiatus. Real life got in the way and I got tangled up in yet another rare pairing. For you StarX fans — if you're still out there — I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Thanks so much to those who have reviewed — your feedback really means a lot!

If you're also reading Dissonance, rest assured that I'll also be updating that in a few days, but for now, enjoy!

* * *

For Starfire, it started because of a scavenger hunt. Those were Beast Boy's words, and it took her a minute or two before she realized that, _oh_, it wasn't a literal scavenger hunt, thank X'hal.

But she agreed with the term nonetheless. Finding the perfect birthday present for Raven was an adventure on its own.

In hindsight, Starfire should have known that she should have gone with the first — and simplest — option. It certainly would have saved her and Beast Boy a whole day of searching the city. As it was, books were on the very end of her list of potential gift items, because neither she nor Beast Boy were familiar enough with Raven's books to know what to get their friend. Beast Boy, in particular, was adamant that they not risk it — just as he was adamant that they begin their search in disguises, with Cyborg's holoring to conceal their identities.

"We don't want her to be on to us, right, Star?" Beast Boy had said, the day before their planned trip. "It'll ruin the surprise."

Starfire agreed readily enough. They spent hours going from store to store, from one mall to the other until she was certain they had seen all there was to see in Jump. They were still empty-handed by the end of the day, with no more than the vaguest idea of what to get Raven. Raven, who was determined not to make her birthday a _big deal_, as she put it, even after all these years.

The Titans still planned to celebrate, of course. Something quiet and simple and just for the five of them. The problem was they weren't entirely sure what that _something_ would be. Starfire found that she knew her best friend well enough to know what Raven _wouldn't_ like, but not what she would like enough to forget her aversion to her own birthday.

Beast Boy was as clueless as her, and by that afternoon he was ready to _"call it quits and just get her, like, waffles or something, I don't even know, dude." _But as they were making their trek back to the Tower, he perked up suddenly, as if struck by some brilliant epiphany, and ran off with no more than a hasty promise to return soon.

That left Starfire on her own, standing at the curb and watching him disappear into the crowd. She wasn't worried — they had their communicators with them, so she knew how to find him — but she was stunned by his sudden departure. Where he had gone and how long he would stay there, Starfire wasn't sure, but she took the opportunity to explore this side of the city.

She wasn't all that familiar with the streets and alleys. It had been a long time since she was here last, and there were new landmarks in place of those she remembered. New buildings where there used to be empty lots, renovated stores where there were once faded paint and old signs.

One of these caught her eye, a secondhand bookstore on the street corner. It was in one of the relatively older buildings, but the red paint on the storefront was bright and new, striking against the drab greys of the alley. Starfire ventured inside, deciding it was as good a place as any to wait for Beast Boy, and she found herself as charmed by the interior as she was intrigued by the exterior — the musty scent of old books, shelves that went on forever, loveseats scattered across the room, quiet and hushed voices all around.

She decided to explore further, her gaze lingering on some of the titles, each one older and less familiar than the last, and thinking, _Perhaps Raven would like this_. What Raven would like specifically, Starfire still didn't know, but she had avoided books thus far — maybe it was now time to rethink her list. She would have suggested it to Beast Boy when they reunited, had he not already bought a present while he was gone.

The novelty of the store remained even on her second visit, but Starfire felt a little disconcerted without Beast Boy with her. She rarely left the Tower on her own, and she was not as comfortable with disguises as he was. Each time she passed by a reflective surface, she couldn't help but check if her skin, her eyes, her brows looked human and normal enough.

Her discomfort faded the longer she stayed inside the shop. There was something calming about the place, something she couldn't name. Maybe it was because it seemed so lived in, cozy and . . . _loved, _she supposed was the word she was looking for. Homey and full of history, like the libraries in her palace in Tamaran were.

Perhaps that was why she returned a week after her purchase.

Truthfully, Starfire hadn't planned on returning, but recently the Tower had felt stifling. Her friends looked at her with unmistakable worry, and spoke so softly and carefully as though the slightest misstep would damage her irreparably. As much as she appreciated her friends concern, she did not appreciate their pity.

She was _fine_. She would be fine. How could they not see that? She did not need their sympathetic looks or their careful words or their cautious gestures. They did not need to exchange glances each time she and Robin were in the same room, nor did they need to fall into awkward silences each time either of them spoke. They did not need to put her at arm's length, to act around her with such wariness. As if expecting her to break simply because of a _boy_.

It was all so unnecessary, all so tiring to have to see it day in and day out. For weeks on end, this was how her friends treated her, and she had wanted to get away from it all.

There were certainly other places she could have gone. But the Mall of Shopping or the cinema or the park would not have the boy she had met only days before, who had been intriguing and helpful and _nice_. Starfire didn't get many opportunities to interact with civilians, but he was the first person in a long time to have spoken to her without pretenses.

But to her disappointment and confusion, the store was closed when Starfire arrived. _How strange. _She was certain this was the same time she had come in before, and it was neither Sunday nor a human holiday.

There was a motorcycle parked in front though. Remembering whose it was, Starfire peered through the window. Sure enough, there was no one inside save for the boy on the sofa. Jason was bent over a disarray of papers and books — homework, she assumed — but looked up as though he had felt her staring. His eyes widened and he hurried to unlock the door.

"Greetings!" Starfire said brightly when he swung the door open.

"Hey," Jason said with a crooked smile. "Wasn't expecting you today. Or anyone, really."

"My apologies. I was not aware you were closed at this hour."

He shrugged. "I keep odd hours. Which roughly translates to 'whenever I feel like it'."

"The owner does not mind?"

"Not really," he answered. She waited for him to elaborate, but he only opened the door wider, gesturing for her to come inside.

Starfire hesitated. "I do not wish to impose —"

"S'okay. I need the distraction anyway."

"From your homework?"

He made a face. "God, yeah," he grouched as she followed him inside. "C'mon in, you're helping me delay my inevitable torture."

Starfire giggled at that. It amused her, how hatred for mathematics was a common human sentiment. "It is Calculus, yes? I can help you with it, if you like."

His eyebrows rose. "I don't think it would be very professional of me to accept, cutie."

"It is not professional of you either to, as you say, open the store _whenever_ _you_ _feel_ _like_ _it_."

"Touché," he said, chuckling. "Well, I just made a fresh pot of coffee. You want some?"

Starfire didn't like coffee at all, but it would be rude of her to turn it down. Especially when he had been kind enough to let her in. "That would be lovely."

While he went to get her coffee, Starfire took the opportunity to wander around. The store was much bigger than it looked on the outside, and so far it seemed that during each visit, she found something new and of interest to her.

Admittedly, almost everything was of interest to her, considering Starfire didn't read much of Earth literature. In all her years here, the only books she had read were from authors that Raven recommended and the novels that Cyborg insisted were better than their adaptations. She found one such book, and she picked it out of its display in curiosity. She was supposed to see the film, she remembered, but some mission or another had cut the date short. Starfire remembered how disappointed she had been, and Robin —

"You, uh, gonna buy that?"

Starfire turned. Jason was eyeing the title with a badly concealed grimace. "Perhaps," she said, stifling a giggle at his expression. "Is there something wrong with it?"

"Nothing, it's just . . . not my thing."

"You do not recommend it."

"Hey, if you want it, I'm not stopping you. It's just not my genre, is all."

"And what is your genre?"

"According to my roommates, boring old man stuff," he said, looking relieved when she put the book down to accept the cup of coffee he held out to her. "Better known as classic literature. Kind of like your friend, if I read her right. Speaking of, how did that go?"

"Oh, her birthday is next week, but I am certain she will enjoy your recommendation."

Somehow, this made him uncomfortable, and he looked away from her quickly. "Right," he muttered as he led her back to the sofa.

Jason hurried to clear some space for her on the table while Starfire took a wary sip of her coffee. She forced herself to swallow the liquid down before reaching for the coffee tray, pouring a good amount of cream into the cup and then stirring in a tiny bit of sugar. When she looked up, Jason was sitting across from her, watching her with an amused look.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head, but she could have sworn he was smiling as he took a sip of his own.

They sat in silence for a while. Starfire wasn't sure what to do now. It had been a while since she had spoken to anyone outside her circle, much less befriended a civilian — but Jason was someone she wanted to get to know. She couldn't say for sure if it was because he was charming or if it was simply because she was lonely, but Jason seemed kind and easy to talk to. Certainly she could do worse than to make friends with someone kind.

"How'd you get so good at it?" Jason said, breaking the silence as he gestured to his papers. "The whole mental math thing. And don't tell me it's just practice."

Starfire giggled. "It is."

"Here I thought you were gonna share the secrets of your wisdom." He sighed dramatically, making her giggle again as he reached for one of his books. "What for?"

She stared at him curiously. "I do not understand."

"I mean, yeah, I get it takes practice, but what do you practice it for?"

Her mind drew a blank as Starfire felt a sudden swell of panic. Jason must have taken her silence as hesitation, because he ducked his head, looking embarrassed.

"Ah, sorry, am I being too nosy? You don't have to answer."

"No, not at all, it is simply that —" she shook her head, thinking quickly. "It is relevant in my line of work."

Jason looked up. Something flashed across his face for a moment, too fast for Starfire to make out, before his features settled into a look of polite interest. "Your work?"

It was true enough. Tamaraneans were taught to practice mathematics from an early age, as it was helpful to have an understanding of it when judging attacks in flight and where to aim.

"Yes," Starfire said and hastened to change the subject. "The book I was holding. You did not like it."

Jason shrugged. "Like I said — not my type."

"And what is your type?"

"Bit of a personal question, don't you think?" he said, eyes twinkling.

The meaning wasn't lost on her, and the smile he gave her made her cheeks feel warm. "That was not —" she began, then cleared her throat. "That is — what do you suggest?"

"For you? Depends. Got anything in mind?"

"Nothing in particular."

"Hmm." Jason placed his chin on his hand and bent so that his elbow was on his knees, squinting playfully like he was studying her. The light overhead made his face seem brighter, and the tuft of his hair — dark but with a strange streak of white — cast flattering shadows on his cheekbones.

_Oh,_ Starfire thought, suddenly very much aware of how . . . _pleasing_ his features were. She had noticed, even on their first meeting, that he was good-looking, but she hadn't realized just how striking he was, now that it was just the two of them. Alone. In his bookshop.

Had she given him the wrong idea? Did he think that she was — certainly he was attractive but — it wasn't that she wanted to —

"How do you feel about Austen?" Jason said suddenly, jolting Starfire away from her mounting panic.

Books. Yes. They were talking about books.

_Austen. _The name was familiar. Perhaps Raven had read such books before. "I would not be opposed to reading it."

"Great," he said, and his eyes lit up. They were green, she realized, a vivid green shade that seemed unnaturally bright. He went to one of the bookshelves, quickly skimming through the titles. "I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say you're into romance."

"How did you know?"

"I'm a good judge of character," Jason replied, sounding oddly sardonic. He returned with a book in his hand, a hardcover book with pretty calligraphy on the front. "Here. You'll love this."

Starfire took it. "You sound very certain of that."

"I am," he said, and he was smiling again. It really was a nice smile. "You'll have to be pretty soulless to not like Austen."

"Have you read it?"

"Wouldn't be recommending it if I didn't."

He then began talking about Austen, hands gesturing about him enthusiastically, and on and on he went. He seemed embarrassed when he finished, and surprised to have said so much, but Starfire didn't mind. There was something very endearing about it, watching and listening to him talk about something he so clearly loved.

They ended up talking for another hour, about anything and everything, their coffee forgotten. At first, they talked about books, and then the conversation turned to movies, and soon Jason was talking about his roommates. _Ranting_, he described it, but he spoke of them fondly even as he complained about their habits. Even Starfire found herself sharing stories about the Titans — with some omissions, of course, but she didn't think he noticed anything out of the ordinary. He simply seemed interested by her friends and the day-to-day stories she shared, as interested as she was by his.

Who knew how long they would have gone on talking, had Starfire not asked about his classes. The topic of school pulled them back to the present and, as one, they turned to the pile of books and papers haphazardly shoved to the corner of the table.

"I apologize," Starfire began. "I did not mean to take up so much of your time —"

"Don't worry about it," Jason said. "I needed the break anyway."

"Are you certain?"

"Positive."

Still, Starfire insisted on helping him clear the table of their coffee mugs, feeling guilty that she had monopolized his time. Yet at the same time, she didn't regret it, and she couldn't help but feel disappointed that their time had come to an end.

She had just purchased the novel Jason had recommended — along with the book he had turned his nose up at, simply so she could laugh at his reaction — and was ready to bid him goodbye, when she saw him staring at her from behind the counter. His brows were slightly furrowed, as if he was debating with himself, hesitating as Starfire lingered by the doorway.

"You didn't finish your coffee," he said at last.

Starfire felt her face flush. She had been hoping he wouldn't notice. "Oh. My apologies, I —"

"Maybe next time?" he said, and the teasing glint in his eyes was back.

Starfire beamed. "Perhaps."

* * *

Jason tried to get some work done after she left. By god, did he try. But no matter how much he told himself to focus on the numbers — _and letters, why the fuck does math even have letters_ — his attention kept wandering and drifting back to Starfire.

Over and over, he played their conversation in his head, and each rerun made him want to groan aloud. Or bang his head against the table. Whichever.

Because shit, what was he thinking? _Maybe next time?_ Had he really just invited her back? After all the time he spent freaking out that she would?

Sure, she had been fun to talk to — surprisingly so. Jason was surprised by how easy it was to talk to her, how easy it was to forget who she was and who he had been when they were talking about classic literature and action movies and that time Rayner got shit-faced and banned from no less than four bars in one night —

And, _sure_, he thought she was gorgeous — because he may be an idiot, but he wasn't blind —

And, _okay_, so maybe he shouldn't have invited her in in the first place, but —

But. Well.

Jason would be lying if he said he didn't want to see her again.

_Fuck._

Was he really so desperate for company that he was willingly — truly, honestly, _actually_ — talking to a Titan, of all people? To a person who could ruin the life he had built and drag him back to all the shit he had left behind? If Starfire found out who he was —

_No_, _not_ _Starfire_, he thought. _Kori_. _Her_ _name_ _is_ _Kori_.

He was relieved when his roommate finally arrived, dragging him forcibly away from his thoughts. Donna was a mess when she came barging in through the door, wild hair and wilder eyes, a continuous stream of apologies pouring out of her even before she saw him.

"You're late," Jason interrupted her, grinning, not bothering to listen to her rambling.

Donna groaned. "Yes, I know, but —"

"No but's, no excuses. A deal's a deal, Troy."

"God, you're the worst," she said. "You know, I could choose to not help you with those shipments. I could be in bed right now, sleeping, but I'm _here_, out of the goodness of my heart —"

He laughed. "You're here because I promised you pizza."

"That too. But I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth it, seeing as you're gonna make me do the dishes anyway. For a _month_."

"Hey, it was Kyle's idea, and you agreed to the terms. _You _said you could go a week without being late to — and I quote — _anything —_"

"And you just had to bet against me_, _didn't you?"

"Naturally."

"The absolute worst," she repeated dramatically, but she was smiling anyway. "C'mon, Jay. Those boxes aren't going to unpack themselves."

They went to the storage room and retrieved the boxes of new books, trading friendly barbs against each other as they checked and double-checked the list of shipments.

"How was the photo shoot?" Jason asked.

"Eh, same old, same old," Donna said, shrugging. "Which reminds me, I'll probably be out of town next week."

"Again? When is that project of yours gonna end?"

She looked away, cheeks faintly pink. "Now you're starting to sound like Kyle."

"Perish the thought," he said. "But he has a point though. Why does your boss keep sending you to Gateway?"

"Oh, you know. They want the pictures to be perfect."

Jason didn't know, but he had never pretended to know anything about what his roommate did for a living. All he knew was that she was a photographer and had been before they met, before he returned to Jump and got his shit together. He didn't even know why someone like Donna Troy — who looked classy and had a classy-sounding job — needed roommates for anyway, so he certainly wasn't going to know why she needed to keep returning to Gateway City for whatever the hell this project of hers was.

Whatever it was, it definitely gave her an eye for detail. No sooner had they finished with the new shipments, and Jason paid her with the promised pizza, than Donna's eyes strayed to one of his displays.

"You finally sold it," she said, looking over at him with an expectant look.

For a moment, Jason wondered if he could get away with lying. If he could get away with pretending that no, he hadn't noticed the glaring absence of that bad romance novel he only ever kept in his shop because since the film came out people have flocked in to gift the thing to their daughters and girlfriends, and Kyle gave him a two-hour pep talk on _please keep your opinions to yourself and don't — I repeat, do not, absolutely do not — try to talk people into not buying them, so what if people have no taste, they're throwing money at you, let them throw money at you_.

"Er," Jason said.

Donna raised one delicate eyebrow, gave him an exaggeratedly slow once over, and smirked.

Well, fuck.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't." The smirk grew wider. "You're telling me someone _didn't_ come in here, bought trash literature, and got away with it? I know you, Jay. You wouldn't have been able to keep your mouth shut."

"Hey, I always keep my mouth shut," Jason said, a bit weakly.

"Sure, like that _Shadowhunters _incident —"

"The poor guy was wasting his money on a fucking box-set —"

"Or that time with that _Pearls_ book, whatever the hell that was —"

"It was racist garbage, that's what it was —"

"Or the one with the _Fifty Shades_ books —"

"You agreed with me on that one."

But Donna just kept giving him that knowing look of hers, and not for the first time Jason wondered how and why he was even friends with her.

"Okay, _fine_, I don't always keep my mouth shut," he admitted. "So what?"

"_So_ you kept your mouth shut for this one. Which means —" she paused dramatically, long enough for Jason to give her his most unimpressed glare, "you've got a crush."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't have a crush, all right? Just because I let her buy that stupid book doesn't mean —"

"Ooh so it's a she then. What's she like?"

"Shut up."

Donna laughed. "Look at you."

"_What_?"

"You're _blushing_," she said, sounding way too amused for Jason's liking. "I dare you to ask her out."

"The hell? I've seen her _twice_."

Technically he had seen her three times, but Donna didn't need to know that. Neither did she need to know that the thought _had_ crossed his mind the first time, back when he hadn't recognized Starfire's disguise.

"So?" Donna said. "Other people have gone out after less. Look her up on Facebook, if that makes you feel better."

"It doesn't," Jason deadpanned. "And I don't have a Facebook."

"One day you'll join the twenty-first century," she said, looking absolutely giddy, her grin now stretching from ear to ear. "But until then, guess you're going to have to just wait if you want to see her pretty little blonde head again —"

"I'm not falling for that."

She shrugged, laughing. "Eh, it was worth a shot."

Jason rolled his eyes, absolutely _not_ thinking about Starfire and her eyes and how she had looked when she got flustered and how she had said _perhaps_ when he had asked her to come back, had said _perhaps_ like it was a promise and not a maybe, had said _perhaps_ like she wanted to —

No, he was _not_.


	3. Chapter 3

So this is actually the first part of what I originally intended to publish as Chapter 3, which is why it's noticeably shorter than the previous chapters. Unfortunately, Chapter 3 ended up being 10k words long, and I didn't have the time to edit the whole thing. I figured it would be better to publish the part that I did edit, rather than keep you guys waiting for two more weeks.

Once again, thanks so much for reading and reviewing the previous chapter and I hope you enjoy this latest update. Replies to anon reviews at the end of the fic, but you may not want to skip to that since it may (kind of?) spoil the chapter.

For those who have read my other StarX stories, just a quick survey: I want to know which one you guys prefer — _Dissonance_ or _No Notion of Halves_? While I don't plan on putting either story on hiatus, I want to know which WIP I should focus on if I ever find myself with too little free time to split between the two fics.

Anyways, on to the story!

* * *

"What do you think?"

"It is . . ." Starfire began, then wished she didn't. Now Robin was staring at her expectantly, waiting, and she had nothing to offer but a meek smile. "It is . . . different."

"Good different or bad different?"

"Simply . . . different."

"So bad different."

"It is not that at all! It is simply . . ." she trailed off. Nothing about the costume he was wearing could be classified as _simple,_ and she couldn't find the appropriate words to describe just what exactly it was. "Different," she finished lamely.

Robin gave her an unimpressed look, as though he knew what she was thinking. "Honest opinions only, remember?" he said. "I promise my ego won't get bruised if you say you hate it."

"Truly?"

He made a face as she gave him another once-over. "Maybe say it nicely."

She bit her lip, hesitating. "I do not hate it," she said. "But I confess that I find the design surprising."

"Not the kind of thing you imagined me wearing?"

"Not at all," she admitted, looking over the costume's strange embellishments.

It wasn't _ugly_, she supposed, and it didn't even look as awful as it did on paper now that Robin was wearing it. However, it wasn't like him at all, to wear something so . . . _this._ It seemed more like something Beast Boy would give him as a prank gift, or something that Robin would have condemned as too gaudy and flashy to wear out in the field.

"To be fair," Robin said. "I doubt anyone can imagine me wearing pixie boots and a leotard either."

"I disagree."

He quirked his eyebrows. "You think I still have the legs for it?"

Starfire giggled. "It is quite the Halloween costume," she couldn't resist saying.

He groaned. "Beast Boy should have never shown you those costumes."

"Which ones?" she asked, head cocked in an imitation of innocence.

"You know which ones," he muttered, and she couldn't help but laugh.

It was moments like this that made it easy to forget the past few weeks, almost as if they had never happened at all. When he smiled at her or uttered a joke he knew she would find funny, or when she would tease him and he teased her back, or when he would pat her on the shoulder, his hand lingering unconsciously, and she would let him. . . . It was easy — too easy, perhaps — to pretend that things between them were the same as they had always been. That nothing had changed at all. That their friends didn't catch sight of these stolen moments and acted like they didn't see, like they weren't hiding concerned looks and exchanging worried glances.

"But what about this?" Robin said, gesturing to his present attire. "C'mon, Star, what do you _really_ think?"

"This one is . . . _interesting_."

His face fell. "Which means you hate it."

Starfire shook her head. Truly, she didn't hate it . . . perhaps some parts of it, however. . . .

"The feathers seem a bit . . ." she tried to say, "I believe the correct term is _much_."

"It was Alfred's idea," he said, his ears looking a bit redder than they had. "He's really committed to the bird theme."

She pursed her lips to keep from laughing. "I am sure he is. I take it that it was also his idea to add the collar."

His eyes darted downward, and he smiled, a little self-deprecatingly. "Back to the drawing board, then."

Starfire looked over his desk, where sketches of costume designs were scattered across the top. Every page was different and beautiful in its own right, all shades of blue and yellow, each one brighter than the last.

She thought of her short-lived trip to the future, all those years ago. It wasn't a memory she liked to revisit, and though she had since forgotten many of the details of that reality, sometimes she couldn't help but worry that one day, in spite of her and her friends' best efforts, what she had seen would be their future. That they were all destined to grow apart.

She knew, logically, that her presence here in the now, in the present, was proof enough that the future she saw wouldn't come to pass. But she knew, too, that there were things beyond their control, things that were bound to change despite how much she wished for them to stay the same, and now that Robin. . . .

Robin, who was so eager to change his name and his costume, to become more than what she and Jump City could give him, was one of those changes. It made her wonder how many more of those were in store for them, and if she was bound to lose everything that she held close.

"Everything okay?" Robin said carefully, noticing her sudden silence, the concern in his voice pulling her back to the present.

"Everything is most okay," she assured him. "I was simply thinking."

"What about?"

Starfire smiled. "That there is quite a lot of yellow in your designs. I was not aware you were attached to the color."

"Alfred's designs," he mumbled under his breath. Then, louder, he said, "You don't like it?"

"Perhaps a darker color may be a better complement to the blue, yes?"

He grimaced. "I don't know. . . ."

It was Starfire's turn to frown. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing, I just —" he started, looking at his costume in the mirror as he chewed over the words. "I thought the yellow could be like . . . a sort of connection to Robin. I know the color isn't exactly subtle but —" he stopped, looking away from his reflection and shaking his head. "Never mind."

Starfire stared at him patiently. "I thought the point of the costume is to not be Robin," she said, her tone soft.

For a moment, it looked like Robin wasn't going to respond, and she was just about to assure him that he didn't have to answer, but then he was talking again, rambling, stammering. "Yes, but — I know the Robin colors have always been like a walking target, but that was sort of the point? Look, I know we _are_ walking targets anyway, whatever we wear, but with Robin . . . he was always meant to be that way. Eye-catching, I mean. He was always . . . he was always supposed to be _hope._ The light to Batman's darkness." He glanced over at her, smiling sheepishly. "Sounds pretty cheesy, huh?"

Long ago, Robin would not have shared this much with her, and it was strange to think that once upon a time, they had hidden their pasts and their secrets and their feelings from the other, skirting away from topics such as these. And here they were now, years later, knowing each other's little tics like the back of their hand, but still avoiding, still evading, still trying to ignore the things they knew they shouldn't. Perhaps the Earth saying was true — _the more things change, the more they stay the same_.

If only she knew what it meant, what it entailed, for the two of them.

"There is quite a lot of cheese," Starfire said, giving him a toothy grin. "Some corn as well."

He snorted. "Very funny."

"But it is a lovely sentiment," she went on, more serious now, allowing her smile to soften and to contrast her solemn tone. "One that should not be confined to a costume or any one color. Robin did not represent the light simply because he wore yellow, and you will not be the image of darkness simply because you choose to wear a darker palette."

Robin went rigid, before he sighed and chuckled ruefully, maybe at himself. "You know me too well, Star."

"You are not so hard to read as you think," she said, gently bumping her shoulder against his.

"Only with you." He turned his head away, though not quite fast enough to keep her from spying the pink lightly dusting his cheeks. He cleared his throat. "So no to the yellow?"

Starfire stepped back, ignoring the way her stomach dropped at his words. "It is merely a suggestion."

"Got any more?"

She regarded the sketches on the desk, considering, looking over each one in turn. Finally, she picked up one of the simpler designs, with the bird-like emblem at the center, its wings stretching outward to the shoulders and down the arms until they formed stripes over the fingers.

"I like this one," she said, "but perhaps the colors should be more . . . subdued."

Starfire could imagine him wearing it. It would suit him, she thought, and the simplicity of it fit the Robin she knew more than the costume he was currently wearing.

He hummed, contemplating the design. "Maybe. What colors, do you think?"

_Black_, she almost said but she bit her tongue. She didn't feel comfortable with the idea of having so much input on his new superhero identity. There was nothing wrong with giving him suggestions per se, but she didn't want him to base his new name and costume so heavily on her opinions. This was _his_ endeavor, _his_ path — not hers.

And they had made that clear already, hadn't they? They had already discussed it and they agreed, that this new journey was his to take alone, and it wouldn't do either of them good to pretend otherwise.

"Perhaps you should decide," she said instead. "What do you think will suit you best?"

He scrunched his forehead. "If I knew, I wouldn't be asking."

"We could ask the others," she suggested. "I am surprised you have yet to show them these."

Their eyes met. Though Robin looked away quickly, she saw the unspoken words in his glance. _You know why, _they seemed to say, and she wasn't sure what she was meant to offer in response.

"We should show them now!" she blurted out, louder than she should have, hurriedly gathering the drawings and arranging them in a neat pile, rambling as she did. "They may have some ideas that may be helpful. I am certain they will be most eager to help. Perhaps they may help you decide on your color scheme, yes? Cyborg is quite —"

"Yeah, but I —"

Starfire stiffened. Her back was turned from him, and she forced herself not to look his way. "Yes?"

"I wanted yours," he said quietly. "Your opinion. On the color scheme, I mean. Not your color scheme — er, not that there's anything wrong with it." In her periphery, she could see him running a hand through his hair nervously, looking like he was chiding himself.

She attempted a shrug to affect nonchalance, like her friends did so often, though the motion felt odd to her. "It is your costume, Robin. The final decision is yours. I offer only suggestions."

"They're important suggestions," he insisted.

"I doubt they will matter, if they go against what you have already decided."

"They will. There's no light without you, Star."

She tensed, feeling her breath hitch in her throat, and she caught sight of his eyes widening as he swallowed hard, the question _what am I saying?_ clearly flickering behind his eyes.

There was a moment of deafening silence as Robin's words hung aimlessly in the air, and no one made a move to grasp them. _This _was exactly the thing Starfire had hoped to avoid, what made her chest ache something fierce each time the two of them were in the same room for too long, the reason why their friends were so careful and awkward around them.

It was not because she and Robin had stopped being friends — truly, Starfire believed that their friendship was a constant, one of the few certainties she held on to and knew, in her heart, could never be altered. Before they were anything else, before that day in Tokyo and the many moments they shared in the years that led to it — the lingering looks, the brush of their fingers against each other, their secret jokes and private smiles — she and Robin were friends. Best friends, even.

But they were never _just_ friends either, and perhaps — for better or for worse — that would remain a constant too.

"Sorry," Robin muttered, his eyes downcast, his jaw set. "That was — I shouldn't have."

"It is all right," she said, and fought to keep her tone light. "It was . . . not so bad a pun."

He scoffed at that. "It was bad. Terrible."

The corner of her lips turned up in a small smile. "Truly, it was not one of your better ones."

"I'm just glad Raven wasn't here. She'd never let me live it down."

"She would not."

Another beat passed before he cleared his throat and took off his domino mask. "You're right. Maybe I should ask the others, just . . . probably not while wearing this."

"That may be best."

Robin dipped his gaze to his mask, fidgeting and toying with the edges. "And maybe . . . maybe I can ask them another time. It's not — it's not like I need the costume right away. Probably best not to rush this."

"Indeed."

He glanced at her then, the bright blue of his eyes shining with nervousness and longing and hope. "There's — there's still time, isn't there?"

"There is still time," she said, nodding, even as she felt her stomach knot. She was certain that they were no longer talking about his costume, and she could only hope that she was just as certain about her answer.

* * *

Sadly, all the Jason scenes were the parts I wasn't able to edit so . . . sorry, guys. You're gonna have to wait a few more days before we see our favorite couple interact again.

To **Miss geek**, thanks so much and I'm glad you loved it!

To **Cuttingclass**, as someone who has only seen You in promos, I was surprised by the comparison, but I can see why it reminded you of the show lol. Glad you liked Jason and Star's interaction, and I'm happy you liked Donna so far! As for Star's science and math knowledge, it's something that I really want to be referenced more in fanfics I read, so I figured I ought to start including it in the fanfics I write. One of these days I'm probably gonna write a College AU where she's a Physics major, because more people need to be reminded of how book-smart our gal can be.

To **starbolted**, oh my god I don't even know where to begin! Thanks so much for leaving such a detailed review — I've lost count of the number of times I've read and reread it and I just couldn't stop smiling! Honestly, it pushed me to update as quickly as I could. Sorry to hear you can't regularly access the site! I may put my TT fics up on Ao3 and/or Tumblr when it's finished, so hopefully they'll be more accessible . . .?

I'm glad you liked the premise! When I watched TT as a kid, I always viewed it as more slice-of-life than the other superhero shows at the time, so I wanted to see more of that aspect in fics. And I'm happy you liked the setting. I was totally aiming for that comfy, nerdy vibe, because I've always viewed Jason as a classic lit nerd lol.

Ahhhhh I'm so thrilled you picked up on all those details! Especially the Starfire ones — I'm low-key (. . . okay, maybe high-key) proud of those. Speaking of Star, funny you mentioned seeing more of her POV, because _you legit_ _predicted this chapter omg_ I panicked lol. And yes, slowly and steadily revealing all that bittersweet RobStar drama is definitely in the plans! Also, I'm relieved you like BB — he's definitely one of the harder characters to write here. As for Jason and Star doing the deed . . . ;)

To everyone who read until the end, thanks so much! I hope you enjoyed the chapter (the first part of it, anyway), and don't forget to leave a review. I'd love to hear what you guys think. Next update will feature Jason being a failbot, Starfire trying to make sense of humans' strange dating customs (or, more accurately, that of one human in particular), and their friends just being so done with two of them.


	4. Chapter 4

As always, thanks so much for the reviews, favorites, and follows! So sorry for the long wait — real life got pretty hectic almost immediately after my last update. Unfortunately, I wasn't been able to reply to the anon reviews but I definitely will in the next chapter! I want you all to know that your reviews and support mean the world to me. Hope you enjoy this new chapter (technically, the second part of Chapter 3) and, if your country is currently experiencing all this quarantine craziness, remember to stay safe and healthy.

* * *

It was almost two weeks since Starfire had last left the Tower in her disguise. In part, it was because the past few days had been filled with missions and covert operations, and her free time had been spent with planning Raven's birthday party. But she would be lying if she said it had nothing to do with Jason himself.

Not that the man had done anything wrong. Far from it.

But his last words to her, the answer she had given — _Maybe next time_, he said, when he realized she hadn't finished her coffee.

Starfire couldn't help but wonder at the offer, what he had meant by saying it. Surely he was only being friendly. Surely he only said it because he was being nice, and that was the sort of thing nice people did for their new acquaintances. . . . And friends, too, often shared coffee, didn't they? It didn't have to mean anything more than that.

But there was a part of her that wondered. . . .

No, she was being ridiculous. She was overthinking it. She ought to put him and their conversation out of her mind, especially when there were more pressing matters to attend to — such as her duties as a Titan.

So she had stayed away. Not _avoid_ the bookstore necessarily, but not going out of her way to visit him. It was for the best, she thought, so that she could avoid any complication or miscommunication.

Starfire had done such a good job of not thinking of the whole thing that when she finally did — when her memory of their last encounter suddenly crept to forefront of her mind — she was caught off guard by the full force of it. She hadn't _meant_ to think of him, but she couldn't help but remember him when the day of Raven's party finally arrived, and her friend had reached for the gift she had gotten for her.

The gift Jason had picked.

She was so preoccupied by this thought that she barely noticed Raven's muttered _thank_ _you_ or the curious glances Raven kept giving her throughout the party.

The party itself was nothing more than a simple dinner of all of Raven's favorite dishes and a brief gift-opening. By the end of it, the boys had gone off to the Ops room to play their video games, and Raven practically pulled Starfire aside before she could retreat to her room.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Raven asked her, without preamble.

"Wrong?" Starfire echoed, though she knew, even before she said it, that her attempts at playing dumb would not get past her friend. They never did.

"Something's on your mind."

"I was merely wondering if you enjoyed the surprise."

"I was supposed to be surprised?" Raven deadpanned. "Gee, I didn't see this coming."

Starfire laughed. "What gave it away?"

Raven gave her an unimpressed look. "Really, Star?"

"Yes?"

"Don't change the subject."

"Truly, I do not know what you mean."

Raven sighed, a bit impatient. "Robin hasn't asked you yet, has he?"

Starfire blinked. "Asked me?"

"About going to Gotham."

"I do not see why he should," she said. This time, her confusion was no longer faked. "It is a family affair."

"It is."

"Why do you ask? Has he spoken to you of it?"

Raven shifted uncomfortably. "Not in so many words."

"I do not understand. I was under the impression that Robin intends to spend the weekend with his father." _And the new Robin_, Starfire thought, but that part was still hard for her to say, still hard to wrap her head around.

"Yeah. That." Raven looked away. "Forget I asked."

Starfire felt a flare of annoyance. There it was again — the pitying look, her friend's avoidance. Even Raven, who was normally so straightforward, was tiptoeing around her. "If he has not invited you, then I do not see why he should invite me. Robin and I are merely _friends."_

A small frown creased Raven's forehead, as though she seemed to have regretted bringing up the topic at all, but she pushed on. "And that doesn't bother you?"

"What has brought this line of questioning on?"

"Your emotions," Raven said, grimacing. "They've been all over the place for _weeks_._"_

"I see."

"And it's not just you."

Starfire cringed. "I apologize. I had not realized. . . ."

Raven looked sympathetic, if a bit uncomfortable. "You know it's not good for you to bottle all that up."

"I am aware."

"You can tell me, if that'll help."

It was as though someone had opened the floodgates. Suddenly Starfire was telling her everything — the recent trips to the city, the boy she had met, the guilt she felt but didn't understand each time she saw him.

"I am sorry," she said when she was done, feeling a pang of shame run through her. "It is your birthday and I should not be burdening you with my troubles."

Raven stared. She had barely moved throughout Starfire's tale, and it was the only sign that she was taken aback at all.

"It's not what I expected," she said at last.

"And what did you expect?"

Raven looked away again and said nothing, but these were answer enough. _She thought my dilemma was about Robin. Why must it always —_

"Regardless," Starfire began, "I know that this is quite petty of me, to worry about such a small thing. It may not even mean what I think he meant it, and that I am merely just . . ."

"Projecting?"

"To project would mean that I am transferring my own desires and emotions and attributing them to his words unconsciously."

Raven took a moment to parse out her words. "The dictionary definition makes it sound so complicated, but . . . aren't you?"

"I do not think I am."

"Hence the word _unconsciously_."

Starfire shook her head. "But I am not — I am not interested in him in that way. I barely know him."

Raven's eyebrows rose. "Fair enough. How about this — say your mystery guy is interested, would you mind it?"

Starfire thought it through. Jason was nice enough, she supposed, but . . .

"I do not know enough about him to say."

"Isn't that the point of dating? To get to know the guy?"

"Yes, but . . ." Starfire trailed off. She bit her lip, if only to stop herself from saying it aloud. She hated to have to bring it up, but she had nothing else to compare her feelings to.

Somehow, it always came back to Robin. It shouldn't be as surprising as it was — after all, she _knew_ Robin. _I have always known him. I knew him when we began the dating._

She was grateful that she didn't have to say it. Raven seemed to understand, her eyes softening even as she made a face.

"Okay, that's —" Raven sighed quietly. "I'm not exactly a relationship expert here, but maybe you should just cross the bridge when you get there? Just wait and see what happens?"

"I suppose," Starfire said, smiling slightly. "There is not much else to do, is there?"

"Not really. Dating is —" Raven broke off, making vague gestures with her hand as she searched for the words.

"The messy? Complicated?"

"A pain in the neck."

Starfire giggled. "Difficult."

"Expensive."

"Confusing."

"Not worth it."

Starfire's face fell. "That is not always the case."

Raven shrugged. "Maybe not, but you can't always tell, can you?"

"No," Starfire said. "Sometimes you merely have to cross the bridge when you get there."

Raven looked over at Beast Boy, who was doing an odd victory dance, fist raised in the air with a triumphant _whoop,_ even as Cyborg and Robin howled at him, demanding another rematch.

She rolled her eyes. "How inconvenient."

* * *

Starfire didn't return the next day. Or the day after that, or even the weeks that came after.

Jason wasn't counting though. It was just something he noticed as January came to a close, the end of the month ushering in the need for gaudy decorations and other over-commercialized crap.

Business was booming. As February crept around the corner, he found the store filled with teenaged girls giggling over shitty romance novels and guys so clearly out of their depth scrambling for presents for their significant others. It helped that there were no major attacks in the city recently, no garishly costumed villain relevant enough to feature on the news.

If nothing else, at least it meant that Starfire was all right.

Which was good. Even if he only knew it through guesswork and not because she had seen him and told him herself.

He wasn't _disappointed_, exactly, that he hadn't seen her, but he had hoped. . . .

Whatever. It wasn't a big deal anyway. No matter what Donna seemed to think.

The next few days after Donna had found out about Starfire, she would pester him when he returned to their apartment. "Ðid you ask her out yet?_"_ she would ask, each time without fail. Jason would roll his eyes and not answer, which would make her crow, "Just stalk her on Facebook like the rest of us_."_ But when a week had passed and it became clear that The Mystery Girl, as Donna had taken to calling her, was unlikely to be back any time soon, Donna became all . . . _sympathetic_, patting his knee like he was some moon-eyed, brokenhearted teenager.

Which he _wasn't_, dammit. It wasn't like he missed Starfire or anything — he didn't even know her, really, so how could he miss her?

Yeah, he could admit that he had checked her out and that the collective two hours — not that he counted — they had spent together had been all right, but that didn't mean anything. Dating wasn't exactly a priority, what with college and his job to think about, so really. He was fine.

If only he could get Donna to see that. Jason had been a little bit relieved when she left for another trip to Gateway. At least it put an end to her attempts at setting him up on blind dates and insisting he "_put himself out there_," whatever the fuck that meant.

He had been lucky that somehow, amidst all of this, Kyle remained largely uninterested in getting involved in his love life. Sure, Kyle had teased him a bit when Donna had started the whole mess, but in the end he spent most of the time rolling his eyes fondly at Donna's antics.

Of course, Kyle's apathy was because he was too busy mooning over Donna to bother Jason about dating, so there was that. Another problem in itself.

For whatever reason, Donna's recent trip to Gateway had Kyle worried. It was all he could talk about while he and Jason busied themselves with taking down all the pink banners and discount signs that got ruined during the Valentine's week.

"Look," Kyle kept saying, "I just think it's weird. Don't you think it's weird? She's going out of town again and — didn't she just finish her project? Why's she going off again?"

Jason tuned out most of it, after his attempts at getting through Kyle's blabbering was met with more blabbering. He would have teased Kyle about it, if the poor guy wasn't already working himself up into a panic. Ironic, really, that Donna was so invested on matchmaking him, when she had Kyle hopelessly waiting in the wings for her. Kyle may not admit it, but Jason had spent most of their friendship being the third wheel to his and Donna's will-they-won't-they drama.

A tinkling bell rang as the door swung open. Jason turned his head towards the sound on instinct and froze as he saw the customer step inside the store and approach the counter.

"Fuck," he said.

Raven — because holy shit, it was her, it was obviously her — narrowed her eyes at him. "Excuse me?" she said, her tone bland, but her eyes promised murder.

Whatever it was that Starfire used to look human during their encounters, Raven was clearly using it too. Her skin had the healthy, rosy tint, not the grey pallor he knew she had. Her hair wasn't unnaturally purple, but a deep black as similar to his own. Dressed in a plain dark blue hoodie and jeans, she looked just like an average civilian. Here. In his bookstore.

Again — fuck.

"Hi," he said eloquently. "That's what I said. Hi."

Raven, because she had ears, clearly didn't believe him, but she arranged her features in a bored-looking expression, as if she couldn't be bothered to care about his lapse in decorum. "Hi," she returned flatly.

The bell above the door chimed again, and this time Jason had the presence of mind to reign in his cursing, just as he caught sight of a familiar head of hair. And there was Starfire — _Kori — _going towards the counter, towards him, smiling brightly and waving cheerily.

"Greetings!"

"Er, hey," he managed to say, tongue-tied, because he still hadn't recovered from the shock of seeing _two_ Titans in his store. "What are you doing here?"

From the corner of his eye, he could see Kyle pause from where was taking off some banners, just as Starfire's smile dimmed, faltering.

"Not that it's not great to see you," Jason added quickly. "Just — I wasn't expecting you."

Starfire looked around her, at the customers meandering around the shop. "But the store is open, yes?"

"Yeah, but I meant you. Specifically." That . . . sounded better and less creepy in his head.

Kyle was outright staring now, mouthing _what the fuck, Jason_, and Starfire was looking at him with scrunched brows, probably thinking the same thing. Raven was definitely thinking it, judging from the way she lifted her brow.

"Are you sure we're in the right place?" Raven said to Starfire.

"I am certain," Starfire said. "Jason, this is my friend Rachel. Rachel, Jason. He is the one who recommended the book I bought you."

Raven — _Rachel_, because apparently they were very committed to their disguises — looks at him with such incredulity that he would have been offended, if he wasn't aware of how much of a disaster this conversation was turning out.

"Nice to meet you," he said, hoping it didn't sound as forced as it felt to get the words out of his mouth.

"Good pick," was all she said, in that same dull tone, but her stare had lost some of its edge.

"Thanks. Hope you liked it."

"Hmm."

"She loved it," Starfire said, all smiles.

When Jason imagined Starfire returning to the store, this wasn't at all how he thought it would go. But her grin was infectious, and he couldn't help but smile back.

"So what can I do for you?" he asked, straightening up.

The tone of mock formality in his words made her giggle. "We are in need of a book."

"Got anything in mind?"

"We have some ideas . . ." she trailed off as she and Raven exchanged a look. "And we shall . . . get back to you later," Starfire finished, thought it sounded more like a question than a statement.

Which was appropriate, because Jason too was questioning everything right now. "Great," he said, holding on to his grin until Starfire and Raven disappeared behind the shelves, then resisted the urge to drop his face into his hands.

It could've gone worse, he supposed. At least, it was only Raven that Starfire had brought with her, and not —

"What was _that_?" Kyle said, appearing in front of him, taking Starfire and Raven's place.

Because of course Kyle just had to be here to see him make a fool of himself. Of fucking course.

"What was what?" Jason said, holding on to the last shred of plausible deniability he had left.

"_That_ train wreck."

"Were you eavesdropping the whole time? Because I'm not paying you to eavesdrop."

"You don't pay me at all, Jason."

"I pay you in pizza and Chinese food."

Kyle opened his mouth to retort, paused, then glared. "You're trying to distract me."

"Obviously it's working."

"_Was_ working," he said. "Seriously, Jay, what the hell was that about?"

"Nothing important."

Kyle scoffed. "Yeah, sure, because you greet people like that all the time."

"Hey, I never pretended to be good at this customer service shit. God knows why I still have this job."

"Stop changing the subject." Kyle said wearily. A beat passed, and then — _there_, the exact moment when realization dawned. "_Holy shit_, was Donna right?"

A blonde teenage girl in a striped sweater had been approaching the counter with a bundle of old magazines in hand, but she recoiled at Kyle's sudden exclamation. She stared at Jason and Kyle with wide eyes, and Jason gave her an apologetic look. He quickly rang up her items as Kyle, mercifully, kept quiet during those three, too-short minutes.

"I thought she was joking about your Mystery Girl," Kyle said when the customer had left with her purchase.

Jason chanced a quick glance at Starfire and Raven, who were partially hidden behind the mystery section, conversing quietly.

"There's no Mystery Girl," he said.

"Uh-huh." Kyle rolled his eyes. "So which one of them are you trying to date?"

"Neither."

"Neither?"

"They're customers," Jason insisted. "Strangers."

"And?"

"And that's all there is. So drop it."

Kyle stared, clearly doubtful. "Uh-huh. . . . So you won't mind if I talk to them."

The was trap somewhere in that statement. Jason could feel it. "What for?"

"No reason. Might ask her out."

"_What_?"

Kyle shrugged, eyes twinkling. "I thought you didn't care."

"I don't," Jason said stiffly. "I just don't want to lose customers because you can't keep it in your pants."

"I never even told you who I was gonna ask out. For all you know, it might be the blonde girl with the pigtails. You know, the cute one who bought all those _Supers_ magazines?"

Jason made a face. Those magazines were nothing more than tabloid fodder. He would have thrown them out long ago if the store's owner hadn't insisted on them — maybe it was her way of pulling some long con prank on him, or maybe she was just doing some weird reverse psychology shit to make him go mad.

"Go on then," Jason said. "Didn't know you went after jail bait."

"Ugh, gross. No thanks — I'll stick to those two."

Jason glared. "Shut up, Rayner."

Kyle held his thumb and forefinger up in a pinch and drew them across his mouth in a slow mime. He sauntered off to the storage room, with a box overflowing with gaudy Valentine's decorations. Not long after, Starfire and Raven returned to the counter, both empty-handed.

"Any luck?" Jason said.

"Unfortunately, we are without," Starfire said, smiling a bit, and why did she have to have such a pretty laugh? "Perhaps you can offer us suggestions?"

"I can try. What're you looking for?"

"It is a present for —" she hesitated. "A friend of a friend. We are not particularly close."

"Okay, so, any idea what this friend of a friend likes?"

Again, she and Raven shared another glance. A lot seemed to be said with just that look. Jason wasn't sure if silent conversations was one of Raven's superpowers, or just a thing that people who were friends for so long can do on the fly.

"Adventure books and mystery, as we have been told," Starfire said. "But we are uncertain if we can find one he does not already own. He has quite a collection, you see."

"Well, he can't own everything."

"No, I should think not," she said, laughing. "He is an avid collector of first edition books, according to our — friend. Do you happen to have any?"

Jason stilled. Raven gave him a curious look, and he willed his expression to blankness.

"Yeah, I keep those in the back," he said, then left before he could say anything else.

Luckily, Kyle was still in the storage room when Jason got there, and he had an extra set of hands to help him look through the dusty boxes of books he kept untouched at the top shelves.

"First edition books, huh?" Kyle said as they sorted through the titles. "I didn't even know you had these."

"Yeah, well, they're not on sale," Jason muttered. "Not usually."

"Why not? Don't these things cost a fortune? I don't even recognize most of these. . . ."

Jason didn't answer. His eyes lingered over the titles, his fingers trailing down each creased spine. It had been so long since he had last seen them, and with good reason. More than once, he had to remind himself to calm down — it would do him no good to start freaking out over _books_, of all things.

"I don't see why we can't just bring these out to them," Kyle said. "Just let them pick."

"Rather not. They don't even know what they're looking for — they'll be stuck here the whole day."

"Doesn't sound like a problem to me."

"Can you _not_ hit on my customers?"

"Hey, I didn't say I was gonna."

"Just keep looking."

"You know, I'm starting to think you don't even want to sell these. Bet you're just hoarding them for —"

"Amazing. You're thinking."

"Oh, real mature, Jason. I — hey, is this it?"

It was. It looked just as Jason remembered it, if a bit worn at the edges — the familiar red hardcover, the golden lettering.

"_The Hound of the Baskervilles_," Kyle read, then turned to Jason with a considering look. "You sure you want to give this to them?"

Jason shrugged. "You said so yourself — they cost a fortune."

Besides, by now he was fairly certain who the intended recipient was, and he knew well enough that this was the right one to give.

"This should do it," Jason said, showing Starfire and Raven the book. "It's a bit expensive, though. First edition books usually are — but I can get you something else if —"

"Oh, that is all right," Starfire said. "The book is for — it is for a special occasion. I do not mind doing the splurging."

"Sorry, that probably sounded rude, but — never mind."

"It was not," she said. "I suppose not many people spend so much for their — er —"

"Friends of friends? Not unless you're looking to impress." Starfire's cheeks flushed pink, and Jason hurried to add, "Not that it's any of my business but — that is, I'm sure he — your friend of friend, he'll love this. If I read him right, I mean. He'll be — er — he'll be very impressed. Good choice."

_Good job there, Jason. Open mouth, insert foot_. _Awesome_.

Kyle cleared his throat. "You want a card to go with that? I can do some calligraphy, if you're interested."

Starfire perked up. "That sounds lovely. Do you not think so, Rachel?"

Raven shrugged. "I guess. Whatever impresses rich people."

It seemed that was all the incentive Starfire needed, because she soon followed Kyle to the small greeting card display. Jason had expected Raven to follow suit, but she stayed where she was, giving Jason her inscrutable stare.

Crap. He was normally more put together than this. He should be able to tell her _Can I get you anything else? _or whatever service script he could use to get her to piss off. It was harder to interact with customers though, when he was acutely aware the one in front of him could sense what he was feeling. More than that, she _knew_ it — there was no telling what insight she may have gotten on his thoughts, what she might have figured out about him from this disaster of an encounter.

"Sorry," Jason blurted out, when the silence had stretched on for longer than he was comfortable. "About earlier."

Raven quirked an eyebrow. "For saying hi?"

"For everything that came out of my mouth. It's . . . been a long day."

She said nothing to that, but Jason could feel her silent judgment even as she turned her stare to the store at large. Starfire and Kyle were on the table now, chatting amicably over a selection of a handful of greeting cards. God, why couldn't Jason talk to her like _that_ — he had been able to before, hadn't he?

"Happy birthday. Belated happy birthday." Jason couldn't help but say, because he seemed to not know when to shut his mouth. At Raven's questioning glance, he said, "Kori mentioned it."

She seemed to consider this — though why she needed to, Jason couldn't even begin to guess.

"Are you and," she started, hesitating for half a second, brief enough that the pause would have gone unnoticed had he been anyone else, "Kori close?"

Jason forced himself to appear as nonchalant as he could. "She's been here a few times," he said evenly.

"She said you got her coffee."

It wasn't a question, but she looked like she was expecting an answer. "Yeah? I . . . had an extra cup."

"Do you —" she broke off again, exhaling heavily, like she was praying to whatever God there was for patience, "intend to do it again?"

The moment the words left her mouth, Raven looked like she wanted nothing more than to be anywhere else but here. Frankly, so did Jason. What sort of question was _that_?

"Um."

"All done," Kyle said suddenly — thank God. Next to him, Starfire was cooing over what he wrote on the card, and she gestured for Raven to see it.

"Oh, it is beautiful," Starfire said to Kyle. "You are very talented."

"Thanks," Kyle said, grinning. "Glad my future student debt isn't a total waste."

Starfire's brows furrowed, as if trying to make sense of his words, but Raven cut in before she could ask.

"Pretty," she said, tone impassive. "How much do we owe you?"

"Nah, it's nothing. On the house."

"Very well," Starfire said, sounding a little uncertain. She caught Jason's eyes, and her smile widened. "May we include this with the wrapping as well?"

"Sure," Jason said, as Starfire slid the book and the card on the counter. As he checked out the items, he studiously ignored the words on the card, trying not to think about whose present it was that he had picked and was now shoving in some overpriced gift bag.

At least his hands weren't shaking — a feat in and of itself, considering how sorely tempted he was to throw something right now. Preferably Bruce fucking Wayne's birthday present.

Was this Jason's life now? Starfire's go-to supplier of trashy romance novels and birthday presents for fucking superheroes?

"Thank you," Starfire said, when he had handed her the bag and the receipt. Raven had left the counter to peruse the store, and Kyle had gone back to taking down the decorations, hopefully not listening in.

"No problem," Jason said.

She didn't leave or head towards Raven as he had expected, though she didn't say anything right away. She was pulling at her sleeves and shifting where she stood, seemingly unsure, and that made him feel marginally better about the whole thing.

"How was your exam?" she said at last. "I believe you mentioned it, when I was here last?"

"Oh. That." Small talk, he could do small talk. "It went okay, I guess. Could have done better. You probably would have aced it."

"The offer for tutoring still stands," she said, teasing.

He chuckled, if only to hide his uncertainty. Obviously, she didn't mean that. How would that even go down, anyway? She was a full-time superhero, and he was a retired ex-thief running a bookstore.

"So, uh," Jason said. "How'd you like the book?"

She smiled. "I have been unable to finish it, but it is lovely. I am enjoying it."

"Good to know. It's one of my favorites."

"Yes, I remember. I believe you said it was . . . cliché of you to continually claim it as the best book ever written."

"But I still stand by it," Jason said, grinning at her playful tone. "_Pride and Prejudice_ is the best book ever written, and this is the hill I will die on."

She giggled. "I will trust your judgment. Thus far, you have not led me astray with your suggestions."

He faltered then, remembering the book he sold her. "Right."

Jason didn't want to think of it. He had avoided it for so long. But the books meant too much to him, held too much meaning than the words on their yellowed pages and their worn dusty jackets could contain. In spite of himself, he remembered — afternoons spent poring over those first editions and wandering through the stacks of Wayne's private library, hand brushing the spines as he walked, eyes marveling at the hundred thousand perfectly pristine volumes.

"You seemed most busy as of late," Starfire said, startling him out of his reverie.

Jason cleared his throat. "Yeah, we're usually packed on Valentine's."

Much to his displeasure. By now, he had sold a good part of the romance section, and while Kyle insisted that it was a good thing, Jason felt as though he was selling a piece of his soul for every _Slater Brothers_ and _Fifty Shades_ he couldn't dissuade people from buying. Honestly, his heart wept for anyone who would actually read that, but he did try, to his credit, to convince them to pick something less horribly written and conceived.

"What about you?" Jason said. "Been busy lately?"

"Oh, yes. Quite. I have been most busy with — with my work."

If she had been anyone else, if she wasn't a literal superhero, this would have been the part where Jason asked about what her work was, and then they could've made small talk about their jobs and commiserate with each other about how hard or tiring or fulfilling it was or whatever.

But considering the circumstances . . . well. Jason wasn't that much of an asshole.

"I had intended to come back," Starfire went on, not quite meeting his eyes.

"Oh?"

Her mouth curved up in a lovely grin and — was she blushing? "Yes. It is merely that my — work had gotten in the way."

"Oh," he said again, because he didn't know where the hell this was going. "So, uh, was there anything you wanted? I mean — did you — er — was there a book you want to check out or. . . ." he trailed off, a bit helplessly.

She met his eyes then, and no, he was definitely not imagining the blush on her face. "Books. Yes."

Feeling bolder, he flashed her a rakish grin. "Not the coffee?"

"Perhaps the coffee as well, if you have it."

"Great. I have a —"

"A break," Kyle said, appearing by the counter without warning. "You've got a break."

Jason turned to him incredulously. "I have a break," he echoed.

"Yeah, you do. Get out of here, man. Your shift's over."

What the fuck.

"My shift —"

"Is done. Finished. Ancient history."

"What."

"C'mon, Jay. Stop working overtime. You know it's my turn to man the shop."

_The fuck, Rayner? You don't even work here, _Jason wanted to say, but Kyle was giving him a meaningful look, not being at all subtle, and Jason could do nothing but glare daggers at him.

"Oh, hey," Kyle continued, "since you're free the whole afternoon and all, maybe you could drop by that pizza place? You know, the one with all the memorabilia?"

"Pizza?" Starfire said, eyes lit up with amusement. "Do you mean Planet Krypton?"

Kyle turned to her, grinning. "You've heard of it?"

"I have, though I did not know that they had opened."

"Oh, yeah, they opened last weekend. You should try it. They've got this pizza with this crust with the cheese inside and I _swear _— it's the best thing I've ever tried. Best pizza parlor in the city, hands down."

"Truly? My friends and I have been meaning to go since we learned of it."

"Yeah? Well, Jason here has been going there nonstop since it opened."

"What," Jason said again, scowling.

But Kyle was unperturbed. "Maybe you should show her. It's a bit hard to find and all — really easy to get lost."

God, Jason was going to kill him. What the fuck was Kyle even doing? He knew Jason hated that place, it was Kyle and Donna who got a kick out of it, and —

"I would like that," Starfire said shyly. "Rachel and I are about to get lunch. Perhaps you can join us?"

"What." Because apparently that was all he was capable of saying now.

"If you wish too. I am certain we can find our way if you do not."

Well . . . maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Kyle didn't work in the shop, but he and Donna covered often for Jason when he was too busy and helped out with other menial tasks. Jason really didn't know what the hell was happening but. . . .

"No, er — sure. I — yeah, I can come with you guys."

"Are you certain?" Starfire said. "You do not have to if —"

"Yeah — yeah, if you don't mind, that is —"

"Not at all! I would — we would be very pleased —"

"That's great — yeah, I'll just — let me get my stuff first —"

"Oh, of course. I shall tell Rachel —"

They broke off laughing, realizing that they had been talking over each other. She gave him one last smile over her shoulder before going to Raven, who barely moved a muscle at the sudden change in plans.

Wait.

Rachel . . . ?

_Shit_.

* * *

If you've read the comics, some of the Easter eggs I've dropped here may not be new to you. But if you can't spot them — well, I'm saving most of the explanations for another time because I don't want to spoil all the fun.

One thing I want to share though: In comic book canon — the Post-Crisis one, though I'm not sure if this is still canon in the newer comics — Bruce and Alfred had a hobby of collecting first edition books, which they started when Bruce's parents died. During the Under the Hood storyline, Jason uses it as a means to give a message to Batman, and sends him a package of first edition books.

Now, because I headcanon Jason as being an unabashed classic lit nerd, imagine young baby Jason being so excited to add to Bruce's collection, and poring over all of those books and holding them reverently, and just being so enthusiastic about the whole thing.

And now imagine, in the years between his resurrection and his dramatic _surprise bitch bet you thought you've seen the last of me_ moment with the Batfamily, that he can't look or even think of first edition books without thinking of Bruce and Alfred. There were even times when he considered sending some anonymously, but he never went through with it, because he wanted to keep his return to life a secret for the Drama. Hence, Jason's reaction here to first edition books.


End file.
